5 ways to focus your bank marketing budget. C-level banking executives tend to be very focused on the idea of return on investment. This can complicate the lives of bank marketing executives, because a lot of what marketing does affects consumer behavior in an indirect, non-linear way, which makes it very hard to draw a one-to-one correlation between a marketing activity and a revenue-related outcome. Here are five considerations that might help you with your budgeting process-both in establishing an effective budget | plan, and in selling it up to the corner office. 1. Start with the bigger strategy. You…

7 key points about "patient expectations" for healthcare branding. The best branding agencies in health care marketing are the ones who understand the boundaries of the community being served by the physician practice, service line, or facility. This is especially true when branding a community hospital-hospital branding must consider the role the institution plays in the community aside from that of medical service provider. As executives begin a health care branding initiative, here are three key points to consider, regarding patient expectations. 1. It's easier to meet (and exceed) low expectations. With healthcare branding, as with almost all service branding,…

4 Hurdles for community bank marketers. This post by James Gibbons was originally published as an article in the American Bankers Association Marketing Journal. Marketing is hard-well, not hard exactly, but tricky. People who've done a lot of it know things like: hitting the target is a lot harder than getting near the target, hitting it twice is something like lightning striking twice, getting a letter or email opened is about fifty times harder than getting it delivered-and getting a click-through is even harder. Marketing people know that certain messages don't work in outdoor...or radio...or newspaper...or television, and that the…

3 things to remember when marketing to millennials Each new generation of consumers brings with it new cultural expectations. When the baby boom came of age, advertising began using film techniques, humor, story telling, and music in ways that advertising had never seen before. Generation X infused marketing communication with irony, satire, and cynical humor. The best branding agencies understand and accommodate these cultural demands. In fact, with both content and technology, it is smart to get out ahead of the upcoming generation. So, whether you're engaged in bank branding (where the future is now in terms of marketing to…